Taveras, Lowe Lift Rangers To Third Straight Win

The Texas Rangers are officially on a winning streak.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Sep 1, 2021 12:29 AM EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas — Baby steps. In a season all about growth, the Texas Rangers need to learn to walk before they can run. With the final month of the 2021 season now upon us, we may be seeing some of growing pains paying off for the young Rangers.

Texas won their third straight game on Tuesday night, defeating the Colorado Rockies by a score of 4-3. How they won was more important. While they didn't have the offensive outburst like they did on Sunday, they forced opposing pitchers to be uncomfortable throughout the night and the lineup came up with timely hits.

"It's very encouraging," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "I know we only had five hits and [Nathaniel Lowe] had three of them, but the at-bat quality was phenomenal. I told the team after the game there's going to be where we don't hit, but we can have that type of grind everyday. That kind of grit and grind it what we need to have on a consistent basis."

Two Rangers in particular were a big part of Tuesday night's win.

Leody Taveras made an impact both with the bat and on the bases. He added to a Rangers 2-0 lead with a solo homer to the opposite field in the fourth inning. Then in the sixth inning, Taveras earned a walk then stole both second and third base before being stranded 90 feet from home.

By all accounts, Taveras has had a down year at the plate. A little regression was expected after the truncated 2020 season. However, Taveras entered Monday night's action with a .088/.151/.147/.298 slash line in 74 plate appearances this season. Prior to Monday, Taveras had gone 0-for-19 since being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock.

But the dam broke over the past two games, with Taveras going 3-for-6 with two home runs, a double, a walk and two stolen bases.

"It's baseball," Woodward laughed. "Being a former hitter, I know exactly how that feels. Listen, I know he's been working on a lot of things since we sent him down. Like I said, when you don't have conviction in the batter's box, good hitters don't look good. So for him to get off the snide a little bit and get a hit, then hit another ball hard, hit a homer, it makes him come to the field a little [easier]. He sleeps a little better that night. The food tastes a little better. Then he comes the next day with a little bit of confidence."

Speaking of confidence, no one had a bigger night than Nathaniel Lowe, who had three of the Rangers five hits on the night, including a solo home run to the opposite field to break a scoreless tie in the second inning.

Lowe has worked extremely hard on hitting the ball in the air more often, and those adjustments are coming through in the box score. Over his past 10 games, Lowe has an OPS of 1.121.

"I'm trying to simplify some things to try and do some pretty simple things with the ball," Lowe said. "That's just getting the ball in the air. Thankfully, I've been able to get the ball in the air and have some success with it."

If you didn't have a reason to cheer for Lowe from here on out, you have one now. The final month of the season is the last opportunity for this group of Rangers to put themselves in conversations for next year's squad. When asked what Lowe wants to accomplish in September, his answer brought a whole new perspective to the situation.

"I watched my grandfather take his last breath on Sunday. I was on the call when it happened. I just want to make him proud for this last month," Lowe said, fighting through tears. "It's an honor to play in the big leagues and to have a family member like that. I wouldn't be here without him. I appreciate everything he did for me."

What's Next

The Rangers (47-85) go for a three-game sweep of the Rockies (60-72) on Wednesday afternoon at Globe Life Field. Kohei Arihara (2-3, 6.59 ERA) is set to return from the 60-day Injured List and start for the Rangers. He'll face Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland (5-6, 4.17 ERA).